fandomtownies | The Park, Thursday Evening

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jack priest

The Park, Thursday Evening

As soon as the sun had set, Allie had risen from the secluded park corner she'd gone to ground in and went to the causeway for another futile hour of attempting to get across.

Finally, as much as it pained her to admit it, Allie had to accept that she needed help. The jogger she approached was more then happy to place the call to the number on the card she had tucked in her pocket from the first night on the island. Given the fear she smelled off him, Allie was pretty sure it was the sword still strapped to her back that made him so helpful.

Once the call was completed the jogger scurried off and Allie sat down to wait.

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Jack had not, it should be noted, been jumping out of his skin with eagerness to meet up with Allie. He kept thinking about what Derek told him about werewolves and swords.

He was sure Derek was being paranoid. But if he wasn't --

Jack had a pistol in the small of his back, just in case.

"I got your message," he said, with wary friendliness. "You're having trouble?"

Sadly that pistol would do nothing more then piss her off. But it wasn't going to be needed. Allie just wanted answers.

She'd gotten to her feet as she heard Jack approached and immediately picked up on the wariness that hadn't quite been there the other night. Strangely enough, it was more familiar and easier to deal with then random friendliness.

"I can't leave the island."

Jack nodded slowly, coming close enough to realize he didn't hear a heatbeat.

"Physically can't, or can't because you have things to do here?" he asked.

"I start to cross, get halfway, blink and I'm right back where I started," Allie bit out, frustration plainly on her face. "Why is this happening? How can I make it stop? How can I get back to where I belong?"

"I don't know," Jack said, wariness starting to slide away as he realized she was telling the truth. "I knew someone that happened to before, but for them the barrier just -- slid away after some time."

He wished he'd seen Merlin more recently, to ask how exactly that had worked.

"You could try to find someone who does magic, maybe."

"But Kanin doesn't have time. I don't have time." Frustration and the beginnings of blood hunger had her canines pushing against her gums, she turned away for a moment and focused on regaining control.

"And besides. Magic isn't real. That's not going to help me."

"Is a vampire telling me magic isn't real?" Jack asked mildly. "Your kind are usually wrong when you decide not to believe in things. There's magic."

Yes she was. Magic wasn't real. At least not in her experience. "Don't you think if it was real, someone would have used it when people first started getting sick? Or when the rabids first appeared? Or when the vampires started rounding people up and treating them like cattle?"

Not that she actually expected Jack to know the answers but he was free to pick up the disconnect of Allie not lumping herself in with the vampires.

"I have no idea what you're going on about," Jack said simply, calmly. "Could you start at the beginning?"

Yeah, he wouldn't would he, Allie realized. She took a completely unnecessary breath and perched on the back of a park bench. It looked like it was story time.

"Where I'm from, it was like this once, years ago. But people started getting sick and dying. Millions of them. And then dying wasn't enough. The dead turned rabid. They'd kill whatever was in their path." Like Rat and Lucas. Like Allie, that last night in the rain. "Just when it seemed like it was all going to be over, the vampires swooped in. They created walled cities and offered their protection if you registered. But registering wasn't protection. It just meant you became a damn blood cow in exchange for just enough scraps to stay alive. My mother was registered. When she died, I swore I'd never give some vamp the satisfaction of having my blood."

Allie turned to face Jack. "I lasted six years. Until I was scavenging outside the walls a couple months ago and the rabids got me. A vampire offered me a choice, turn or die," she shrugged a shoulder. "I might be damned but at least I'm alive."

So, zombies and vampires. Her world sounded truly charming; Jack would make a point not to book any vacations there.

"I don't know that you're damned," he said first. He didn't express further sympathy, but his eyes probably showed it. "But -- all right. Do you drink now to stay that way?"

"I have to, yes. A couple swallows every two weeks or so to keep the hunger at bay, to keep myself sane. More often if I've been hurt. And that's another reason I need to leave," Allie said, gesturing towards the town. "I've got at best another day, maybe two, before I'm going to start having issues. This town doesn't need that."

"There's artificial blood in the bar," Jack told her. "It worked on my guardian and it works for the owner. It'd likely work for you, even if animals don't."

He finally smiled a bit. "I appreciate that you're thoughtful about it, though."

"I don't want to be like them," she admitted quietly. Even if it meant doing things on her own.

"Animals don't. I'll have to try this blood. Maybe I'll get lucky." She hadn't had much in the way of luck in a long time.

One thing Jack had said finally piqued her curiosity. "How did you wind up with a vampire for a guardian? You're human?" Don't mind the sniff there Jack. "Aren't you?"

"I was," Jack answered, then gave in to his intuition about her and told the truth. (Sorry, Derek.) "Werewolf, these days. The short version would be my parents couldn't feed me and fobbed me off as a servant. Sebastien -- my guardian -- saved me from that. He was a very good man."

Allie nodded. "Kanin, treated me well. He saved me when he didn't have to."

But she was from a world were there were no movies, pop culture and very few books. So she had to ask a question. "Werewolf? What does that mean?" Allie had seen wolves during her travels, but she couldn't figure out how that would relate to the man in front of her.

"It's going to sound like I'm making it up," Jack said, after a very long pause. "I promise I'm not."

She could hear his heart, beating steadily, no hint of a lie or deception. "I believe you."

"It's a disease," Jack said, managing to bite the word off before it became curse. "If you have it, the full moon makes you turn into a wolf -- or at least, something wolf-like. Some people can be born that way, but I was bitten almost a year ago."

"I've seen wolves in the woods. They're beautiful." They could be savage, but not in a cruel way. Not like vampires. "So one night a month you can run wild in the woods, and the rest of the time you're like this?"

"Three nights for me -- I get the night before and after,"Jack explained, shifting his weight from side to side. "There are others it's only one night for, though."

He smiled a bit. "It sounds prettier, the way you say it."

"And way better then having to suck half the life from a person just to stay alive," Allie replied with a wry look. "So magic, different kind of werewolves, artificial blood. It's an interesting place to be." But she really didn't want to be there. Not while Kanin needed her.

"I'm not going to try to stop getting off the island. But until I can, I don't know what to do." It pained Allie to say that. She'd spent too many years surviving on her own enjoy admitting she needed help. But she knew things were too different here in this place.

"There's a hotel and some apartments for rent," Jack told her. "And for money, you could stop by the bar tomorrow ~~possibly handwavily~~. My manager should be there and he's usually hiring."

"You realize I'd have no idea what to do in a bar? And besides, wouldn't your manager have a problem hiring a vampire?" She'd pass on the apartments for the time being. She'd made do in the Fringe. She could do the same here.

"He's a vampire himself, so not unless he thinks you're some kind of a threat," Jack answered. His tone suggested he assumed Allie was bright enough not to do that. "I can't help you with how to bartend, though. I mostly run the office."

"How hard could it be? Just put the alcohol in a glass, right?" Post-apocalyptic worlds tended to lack fancy mixed drinks.

"I'm not a threat. I just want...I don't know what I want besides getting off the island. But I'm not going to hurt anyone while I'm here." It seemed important to convince Jack of that. The way she wasn't able to convince Jeb and Zeke and the others, at least not until it all went to hell.

"And there's another bartender who handles even pouring drinks a lot of the time," Jack nodded. "Tiny's just ... not much good with people."

"I'm not sure I'd be much better. But I suppose I can try if your boss is willing." Allie wasn't going to think about what she would do if he wasn't.

"Thank you. You've been kind. You didn't have to. Most people, at least where I grew up wouldn't."

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The Park, Thursday Evening

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